Amazing Italy:
Enjoying
Rovigo and Its Cuisine with Maria Cristina Buoso (Part 9)
by Maria
Teresa De Donato
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Hello
my friends,
Today,
I have the pleasure of hosting again my dear friend and fellow author and blogger,
Maria
Cristina Buoso.
Anyone who has not had the opportunity to read our previous interviews will be
able to do so by visiting our Amazing Italy Column, created not
only to raise awareness of a different Italy in the World but also to present
to Italians themselves some attractive, often less known but definitely worth
visiting areas of our beautiful country.
Enjoy
the reading!
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MTDD: Hello, Maria
Cristina, and welcome again to my Blog and Cultural Salon. Thank you for
actively participating in this initiative of mine.
MCB: Thank you for the invitation. It is always a pleasure to be your guest.
MTDD: Maria
Cristina, what other pearls of Rovigo can you tell us today?
MCB: I want to discuss the Grandi Fiumi Museum and the Olivetan monastery.
(The door next to the Church is the entrance to the Museum)
MTDD: Excellent! What is their history, and why do they also have an artistic interest that makes them worthy of being visited?
MCB: The Museum is housed in the spaces of the former Olivetan Monastery of San Bartolomeo, which was built by the humiliated monks in 1255 and then passed to the Olivetans in 1474, who rebuilt and enlarged it in the 1500s - 1600s.
The
Church dedicated to San Bartolomeo was built in 1562, and the facade between
1671-1681. On the sides of the altar are two marble angels sculpted by Giusto
Le Court and a precious organ from 1778 by Gaetano Callido.
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In
1810, the Olivetans had to leave the building because the monastic orders were
abolished during the Napoleonic period. In 1844, the municipality of Rovigo
took over the management of the place and destined it to host welfare works
until 1978.
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MTDD: What happened
next?
MCB: In the past, it was the Civic Museum of Civilizations in Polesine, which was founded in 1978 to exhibit the ethnographic collections and archaeological materials that were preserved in the old Museum managed by the Polesine Center for Historical, Archaeological and Ethnographic Studies. In 1980, it opened in its current location. Still, the structure needed a radical restoration, which began in 1990, thanks to funding from the Veneto Region and the State. At the same time, the idea of a modern museum to illustrate the oldest history of the area came to life. At the same time, research in the geomorphological and archaeological fields is expanding, conducted by associations in collaboration with the Archaeological Superintendence and university institutes.
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Gabbris
Ferrari,
a well-known theatrical set designer, in harmony with the management of the
Museum, coordinates the staging of four sections: Bronze Age, Iron Age,
Roman Age, and Middle Ages. Established in 1998, the new Museum
opened to the public on 20 April 2001, presenting the first section dedicated
to the Bronze Age. Subsequently, the Iron Age opened in 2002, and the Roman Age
in 2004. Finally, the Middle Ages and Renaissance sections were inaugurated in
2012 and 2014 respectively.
The Museum of the Great Rivers also has educational activities for local schools and children. It is an archaeological museum that traces 3500 years of the history of the Middle and Upper Polesine area, using innovative and interactive languages. It is included in the network of the Polesine Provincial Museum System.
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https://www.comune.rovigo.it/myportal/C_H620/museograndifiumi
https://www.rovigoinfocitta.it/rovigo/museo-grandi-fiumi/
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museo_dei_grandi_fiumi
MTDD: Really interesting.
We have a truly rich country from a historical and artistic point of view,
without considering everything else... for example our cuisine...
Do you have another local recipe to present to us today?
MCB: Of course. Today I present to you the "Malafanti", a broth soup.
Recipe
Malafanti
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(Web photo)
There
are many versions, perhaps because it is a recovery dish eaten in the winter in
the homes of farmers or in the homes of those who could not afford many things.
It is linked to winter for several reasons: when it snowed, and there was a lot
of snow once, you used what you had at home, like polenta flour, and what you
found in the garden, and in December, usually, the pork and those less noble
parts were used in various recipes. A saying from where I come from is,
"Nothing is thrown away from pork."
As I said, there are different versions, some lighter, some heavier to digest. I write this to you from memory. My grandmother used to make it, and now that she's no longer here... I hope I remember her well, but below, I'll show you some links with some variations.
The night before, soak the dried beans; you can use the ones you want or have at home, but borlotti or Lamon are the most suitable.
Place the bones in a pan, boil them for a while, then add carrots, celery, onion, beans, and cabbage. The broth should be skimmed if necessary. When everything is cooked to perfection, remove the bones and the rest of the pork you put in, but you can also use just the bones if you want.
Filter the broth and remove any fat. About 50 minutes before going to the table, bring the broth to a boil and slowly pour in the flour to make a very soft polenta. It must be eaten with a spoon; at the end, it is brought to the table and served with the pork cooked first.
On top of the dish, you could add ground pepper and some cheese if you like, but it's something extra (not necessary). The pig's trotters, ears, and other little-used parts are delicious.
https://rovigo.italiani.it/marafanti/
